Alcohol significantly changed the contribution of certain tetrameric assemblies to the total amount of BK channel. The most striking change was a several fold drop in the ALCOREX/INSERTLESS assembly contribution, and a collateral increase in the INSERTLESS/STREX assembly. Modeling also predicted a concurrent moderate increase in INSERTLESS homomers. Interestingly, in naive striatal neurons the calculated distribution of BK channel assemblies differed from SON neurons, with a higher percentage of ALCOREX/INSERTLESS heteromers and ALCOREX homomers, and smaller amounts of STREX-containing assemblies and INSERTLESS homomers (Figure 7B). Nevertheless, similar to SON neurons, the alcohol-dependent shift away from ALCOREX-containing assemblies, and toward STREX-containing assemblies was observed. Additionally, in striatal neurons, alcohol caused a larger increase in the INSERTLESS homomer.
